How To EQ: Get Your Guitar Sounding Great In A Mix

Production and mixing EQ guide for guitarists and sound engineers 16-Dec-13

Working out which frequencies to boost can be done with the same 'notching method', but instead of trying to find offending frequencies, you're trying to find the ones which are struggling to be heard in the mix, and trying to give them a bit more prominence.

So as far as this feature goes, and for home recording, this is really all you need to know. But you can go so much further. Understanding EQ is the key to creating great mixes.

One useful trick is to find a frequency test on Youtube. This basically plays certain frequencies at you and you close your eyes and try and guess which frequency you are hearing.

For example, if somebody plays me a sine wave at 562Hz, I could probably estimate that it's between 500 and 600Hz, because I spent a shameful amount of time (to the anger of my partner) doing frequency tests.

It's a really useful tool, because you'll be able to identify which frequency needs cutting from the hi-hat track, or which band of frequencies need a bit of TLC on the acoustic guitar track.

It also helps you identify pitches and notes on pianos or guitars, developing your musical ear.

Get to know EQ, get to love it. It's your best friend. You don't need fancy equipment or software to be good at EQing, you just need a good set of ears and a bit of logical thought (and a lot of practice).

Set value judgements aside. You might think that a certain amp or pedal 'sounds' great, or has a really nice mid-range characteristic. But if it isn't sounding comfortable in the mix, you need to set aside your value judgements, and rely fully on your ears to make it sit better.